News Stories Archive - 2004
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News |
This page is an archive of the stories that have been on our news page. As it is an archive, it is not maintained, so stories may have been superseded. Also, links from the stories may not now be relevant.
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Titles
- Ken Livingstone gets heavy on West Waste
- Hillingdon Air Quality Action Plan
- Front gardens matter!
- Richmond Park Decision Day Approaches
- Airport Expansion Pledge Launched
- Heathrow Blight and Noise Consultation
- West London tram
- Ken Livingstone is mayor again
- Front gardens matter!
- Government suppresses statistics on road and plane emissions
- Bigger congestion charge zone
- Government Struggles over Air Pollution at Heathrow
- Global warming bigger threat than terrorism
- M25 widening - a disaster and a disgrace
Ken Livingstone Gets Heavy on West Waste
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Grundon's proposed incinerator |
Ken Livingstone has issued a 'Direction' telling the West London Waste Authority not to sign an incineration or any other contract for waste disposal until they have a proper strategy in place.
The West London Waste Authority
The Mayor's Direction follows a massive campaign by Friends of the Earth and others against the proposed incinerator at Colnbrook. At a rally on 4 Dec police try to intimidate protestors.
(Updated Dec 04)
Hillingdon's 'Air Quality Action Plan'
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Air pollution |
Following 'stakeholder consultation', Hillingdon council has published its draft 'Air Quality Action Plan'. The 'plan' recognises the appalling state of Hillingdon's air, but unfortunately, there is no plan to bring air pollution down to within the government's standards set to protect human health. See our analysis and comment.
(Nov 04)
Front Gardens Matter!
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Ack to N Ken Environment Forum |
North Kensington Environment Forum launched a leaflet called 'Front Gardens Matter' at the Natural History Museum on 10th June 2004.
This simple flyer says how keeping one's front garden green and full of plants is far better for the environment than covering it over with stone or asphalt.
Christine Eborall, of the Local Agenda 21 Group in Ealing, presented the results of research project, which showed that a major reason for hard surfacing of front gardens is to provide parking spaces for cars. See seperate pages for more information.
(Updated Dec 04)
Richmond Park Decision Day Approaches
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Richmond Park |
Richmond Park has been used as a 'rat-run' for cars for many years. A trial has recently been carried out of closing Robin Hood Gate to motor traffic. The trial has proved a great success.
A decision will be made shortly on whether to keep the gate closed. Our view is clear - the gate should remain closed to cars. See reasons why the gate should remain closed.
(Updated Nov 04)
Airport Expansion Pledge Launched
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Pledge |
Major Environmental Organisations, including Friends of the Earth, launched a pledge on 8th Oct 2004 to resist airport expansion.
The pledge is challenges Tony Blair to back up tough words on climate change with tough action.
The government faces threat of widespread protest at Heathrow and airports all across the country.
(Oct 04)
Heathrow Blight and Noise Consultation
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Blight |
BAA has joined in the public consultation game. Following on from the White Paper, BAA is making proposals to help local residents and businesses overcome the problem of 'planning blight' caused by the threat of a third runway. It is also making proposals to insulate against noise and help home owners re-locate.
The offers seem of only very limited value. For a summary of the proposals and our response to them, see blight offer and noise mitigation pages.
(Nov 04)
West London Tram
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Tram (ack to TfL and Robert Bain) |
The West London Tram would be the biggest boost for public transport in West London for decades (with the possible exception of Crossrail). It will take 6 million car trips pa off the road, reduce air pollution, boost business, reduce accidents and promote social inclusion. See our page for more information.
Despite the huge advantages, there is a campaign of opposition to the tram from the car lobby.
(Updated Aug 04)
Ken Livingstone is Mayor Again
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Ken Livingstone |
Ken Livingstone has been re-elected as Mayor of London. Assessements are inevitably subjective and personal, but the view of your correspondent is that this is probably the best result that could reasonably have been expected.
Ken Livingstone has shown some concern for the environment in his last 4 years, unlike the Labour and Conservative parties. If we had got a new mayor from these parties (Ken is not really Labour, as must be obvious to anyone) we could expect more cars, worse public transport, worse air pollution and more concreting over our open spaces than we will get with him. The LibDems are an unknown quantity as far as the environment is concerned, as they are pure political opportunists. The Green Party, while having strong policies on the environment, were never going to win the race for mayor.
While Ken Livingstone may be the best that could be expected, there are now worrying signs about his environmental credentials. He is now supporting road building in London, which will be an environmental disaster, as well as manifestly failing to address our transport problems. He also seems determined to stuff hundreds of thousands more people into London and it is hard to see how he can do this without a major assault on our open spaces and local environmental quality. Environmentalists will be kept busy over the next 4 years!
(June 04)
Front Gardens Matter!
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Ack to N Ken Environment Forum |
North Kensington Environment Forum launched a leaflet called 'Front Gardens Matter' at the Natural History Museum on 10th June 2004.
See how how keeping one's front garden green and full of plants is far better for the environment than covering it over with stone or asphalt.
Christine Eborall, of the Local Agenda 21 Group in Ealing, presented the results of research project, which showed that a major reason for hard surfacing of front gardens is to provide parking spaces for cars. Contact us for more information.
(June 04)
Government Suppresses Statistics on Road and Plane Emissions
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Fastest-growing emitter of greenhouse gases |
Official figures showing sharp increases in gases responsible for climate change from air and freight transport were removed from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) report on the environment after pressure from the Department for Transport.
The figures showed that while emissions from other sources were coming down, those from road and air traffic were rocketing. See web page for full story.
(May 04)
Bigger Congestion Charge Zone ?
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Charge zone |
Ken Livingstone has proposed that the congestion zone should be extended westwards from central London. See web page for information and map.
Friends of the Earth is strongly in favour of the extension. Given the specatular success of the present scheme, it seems eminently sensible to extend it. See web page for more on why we support it.
(April 04)
Government Struggles over Air Pollution at Heathrow
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Air pollution |
The government has published a report on air pollution and Runway 3. This shows that its avid desire for a third runway could be frustrated by EU air pollution legislation.
Despite a whole series of optimstic assumptions and radical proposals, the government still cannot meet all the relevant standards and guidelines for air pollution. See our analysis of the report.
(Mar 04)
Global warming bigger threat than terrorism
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Floods caused by global warming |
Tony Blair is trying to gag his chief scientist who had the timerity to tell the truth about global warming.
Tony Blair's chief scientific advisor had said that climate change is a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism.
At the same time, an international study has reported that over one million species are at risk of extinction because of climate change.
Exactly the sort of messages that FOE has been putting out for years!
It has also come to light that the US has been suppressing a report on global warming.
(Mar 04)
M25 widening - a disaster and a disgrace
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Motorway madness |
Widening of the M25 between junctions 12 and 15 started on 5 Jan 2004. The widening has been condemned by Friends of the Earth, who called it "a disaster and a disgrace". The road is being widened to support Heathrow Terminal 5. See press release for more information.
(Jan 04)
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